1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for placement in a vessel to act as a distillation packing or a demister pad to remove entrained liquid from vapors. More particularly the invention relates to a packing made up of corrugated woven wire mesh sheets separated and supported by a rigid support element and made up into a bale.
2. Related Art
Many types of packing have been developed for use in mass transfer or heat exchange columns. In general, these packing facilitate contact between the liquid and vapor streams by causing more uniform distribution of liquid and vapor over the surface of the packing.
Corrugated plates, known as ripple trays have long been used in the art. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,591,343 and 2,767,967. Also corrugated plates have been used as distribution trays in packed columns. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,062.
The use of corrugated woven wire fabric as distillation structure has also been known in the art.
In addition flat woven wire demister pads have been used to remove entrained liquid in vapors. The entrained liquid impinges upon the wires and drains downward by gravity while the vapor passes through the openings in the mesh. Generally demister pads comprises a plurality of sheets of the woven wire fabric closely packed together to prevent the trapped liquid from becoming entrained again.